Wednesday, 20 June 2012

Red-breasted Devaluation

Geese in Essex - Red-breasted last winter and broods of Barnacles yesterday.

Just to remind you, here’s
a photo of a Red-breasted Goose in Essex from last winter.I saw it again yesterday, or did I? I
certainly saw a Red-breasted Goose; holding territory on an Essex coastal
marsh, with a female tucked away on a nest.Last year this pair raised four young.

I was visiting an area
of coastal marshland at the invitation of the landowner during a two-day tour
of sites on the Essex coast.The
landowner is a farmer who ‘likes his birds’.The most obvious thing about this well-managed land was that it was teeming
with young birds; waders, geese and duck.There were around 70 pairs of Avocets (many with well-grown young), 5
pair of Ringed Plover, 20 pairs of Little Terns, 1,000 pairs of Black-headed
Gulls and many Redshank.I saw broods of
Gadwall, Tufted Duck and Shoveler.The
landowner operates a minimal disturbance policy and ‘discourages’ ground
predators such as Foxes and Stoats. There were also many geese, including about
80 pairs of Barnacles and the pair of Red-breasted.I saw around 20 broods of Barnacle Geese. A fascinating site, but somewhat alarming if you want to think the Red-breasted Goose you are chasing is wild.

A grizzled old ecologist/birder, usually to be found roaming around the Lee Valley and occasionally further afield. Fortunate to be involved in the management of some of the UK's finest nature reserves and always looking for ways of improving them for birds.